The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-06-03


Narrows, sailors in new rig singing:
A life on the ocean wave.
A homo ON the rolling deep!
the colors gracefully dipping to passing
ships, the decks Immediately clean. and
the guns at quarantine firing . parting
salute. But the poetry il all gone out Of
that ship - Il comes out Of that engage.
ment, its decks red with human blood,
wheel-house gone, the cabin pile Of
shattered mirrors and destroyed furni-
ture, steering wheel broken, smoke-stack
crushed, . ope-hundred-p pound Whitworth
rife shot having left its mark from port 70
star6oard, the shrouds rent away, ladders
splintered and decks plowed up, aud
smoke blackeucd and scalded corpses
lying among those who are gasping their
last gasp, far away from homo and kim
dred. whom they love as much as we love
wife and parents and children. Not wait.
ing until you are dead to put upon your
graves . wreath Of recognition, this hour
we put on your living brow the garland
Of a nations praise.
o, men of the Western Gulf squadron,
of the Eastern Gulf squadron, OF the
South Atlantic squadron, of the North
Atlantic squadron, Of the West India
squadron and of the Potomac fotilla, hear
our thanks! Take the benediction of our
churches. Accept the Inequalities Of the
nation. If we had our way we would get
you not only q pension, but a home aud a
princeiy wardrobe, and an equipage and
banquet while you live, and after your
departure a catafalq ne, and q mausoieum
Of sculptured marble, with . model Of the
ship IN which you woa the day. 1t is con-
sidered gallant thing when in naval
fight the flagship, with its blue ensign,
goes ahead up a river or into bay, its
Admiral standing In the shrouds watchin g
and giving orders. But have to tell you.
o veterans Of the American navy, if you
are as loyal to Christ as you were ts
the Government there is a flagship sail
ing ahead of you Of which Christ IS the
Admiral, and he watches from the
shrouds, and the heavens are the blue
ensign, and he leads you toward the har-
Dor, and all the broad-sidcs of earth and
hell can not damage you, and ye, whose
garments were once red with your own
blood shall have a robe washed and made
white in the blood of the Lamb. Then
strike eight bcllsi High noon in heaven
With such anticipation, o veterans of
the American navy! l charge you bear
up under the aches and weaknesses that
you still carry from the war times. You
are not as stalwart as you would have
been but for that nervous strain and for
that terrible exposure. Let every ache
and pain, instead of depressing. remind
you of your fidelity. The sinking of the
Weehawken off Morris Island, December
6, 1863, was mystery. She was not under
fire. The sea was not rough. But Ad-
,ira1 No ma 1n<rl- IF ho ~
steamer Philadelphia, saw her gradually
sinking, and finally she struck the ground,
but the flag still floated above the waves
IN the sight of the shipping. 1t was after
ward found that she sank from weakness
through injuries received in previous
service. Her plates had been knocked
loose IN previous times. So you have in
nerve, and muscle, and bone. and dimmed
eyesight, and difficult hearing and short
ness of breath many intimations that you
are gradually going down. 1t is the
service of twenty-thrce years ago that is
telling on you. Be OF good cheer. We
owe you Just as much as though your hfe-
blood had gurgled through the scuppers
Of the ship in the Red River expedition, or
as though you had gone down with the
Melville Of Hatteras, Only keep your
AdS ul lAS - oAO SuC AlluSSIAO0S " &C
kawken.
Good cheer. my boys! The memory of
man is poor, and all that talk about the
country never forgetting those who
fought for it is an untruth. 1t does for
get Witness how the veterans some
times had to turn the hand-organs on the
street to get their families living. Wit
ness how ruthless'y some of them have
r. ~
Of a politician might take their place.
Witness the fact that there Is not a man
or woman now under thirty years of age
who has any full appreciation of the four
years. martyrdom Of 1861 to 1865 inclu-
sive. But while men may forget, God
never forgets. He remembers the swing
ing hammock. He remembers the fore
castle. He remembers the frozen ropes
OF that January tempest He remembers
the amputation without sufficient ether
He remembers the horrors Of that
deafening night when forts from both
sides belched on you their fury, and the
heavens glowed with the ascend
ing and descending missiles of death,
and your ship quaked under the re-
coil Of the 1oO-rounder, while all
the gunners, according to command, stood
on tiptoe with mouth wide open lest the
shatter hearing or brain. He
it all better than you remem-
Der it, and in some shape reward will be
given. God is the best Of all paymasters.
and for those who do their whole duty to
Him and the world the pension awarded
is an everlasting Heaven.
Sometimes OF the coast Of England the
royal family have inspected the British
navy, Unanswered before them for that
purpose. In the Baltic sea the Gar
and Czarina have reviewed the Rus
sian navy. To bring before the
American people the debt they owe to
the navy, l go out with you on the At
lantic ocean, where there is plenty of
room, and in Imagination review the war
shipping of our three great conflicts
11s6 1872 and 1865. Swing into line all ye
frigates, iron-clads, fre-rafts, guuboats
and men-of- war. There they come, all
sail set and all furnaces in full blast,
sheaves Of crystal tossing from their cut
ting prows. That is the Delaware, an old
craft, commanded by Com
modore Decatur. Yonder goes the Con-
stitution, Commodore Hull com mauding
There is the Chesapeake, commanded by
Captain Lawrence, whose dying words
were: ''Don't give up the ship" and the
OF ISL, commanded BY Commo-
dore Perry, who wrote on the back of an
cid letter. resting on his navy cap: 1--WE
have met the enemy. and they are ours"
Yonder is the flagship Wabash, Admir-
al Dupont commanding; yonder the flag
ship Minnesota, Admiral Colds borough
yonder the flagship Phila-
delphia, Admiral Dahlgren commanding;
Wonder the flagship San Jacinto, Admiral
Bailey commanding; yonder the flagship
Black Hawk, Admiral Porter command.
ing; yolder the flag steamer Benton, Ad-
miral Foote commanding; yonder the
flagship Hartford, David Glascoe Farra-
gut commanding. And now all the squad